Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het vliegveld" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce het vliegveld in Dutch?

het vliegveld is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ət ˈvlixvɛlt/. It means “airport.” ut FLEEKH-velt — a compound with the beat on the first half, and the harsh g in the middle.

ut FLEEKH-velt — a compound with the beat on the first half, and the harsh g in the middle.

het vliegveld /ət ˈvlixvɛlt/

Compound stress on the first element, VLIEG-veld, which is the standard Dutch pattern. The second element takes secondary weight, and the compound seam creates a fricative cluster that would never arise inside a single word.

Listen: het vliegveld

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Sound it out

vl A half-devoiced v into a bright forward l — neither sound is what an English reader would produce from these letters.

ie A long bright "ee" carrying the primary stress, held fully before the fricative arrives.

gv The velar scrape at the end of the first element, running straight into the v of the second. The g is fully voiceless and the v is half-devoiced, so the seam is two near-voiceless fricatives in a row.

eld Short "eh," a bright l, and a d that devoices to t at the end of the word.

Hear it in a sentence

We gaan naar het vliegveld.

We're going to the airport.

Listen: We gaan naar het vliegveld.

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"We gaan naar het vliegveld" is short, but the reduced "het" runs straight into the difficult vl- opening. Note that Dutch also uses "luchthaven" for larger airports, so this word carries a slightly more everyday register.

Where English speakers slip

The gv seam is the physical challenge: learners either drop the g or insert a vowel. Both fricatives belong there, back to back. The vl- opening is the other hurdle, since the v is barely voiced and the l must stay bright. Build the word from its two halves before joining them.